Seminoles jump out to 15-point lead, but foul trouble spells doom against UNC

There was life and hope inside the Donald L. Tucker Center for the first time in months.

But the good will the Seminoles built up against North Carolina slowly dissolved. FSU’s defense fell apart in the second half and the Seminoles could not hold on to a 15-point first-half lead against the red-hot Tar Heels as UNC (18-7, 8-4 ACC) beat FSU 81-75 Monday night for its seventh consecutive victory.

Senior guard Ian Miller made his first start of the season for the Seminoles after scoring 25 points in Saturday’s win against Wake Forest.

The North Carolina native helped FSU to a 12-2 lead.

The Seminoles extended their lead to 21-6 before North Carolina began its comeback.

Both teams fell into early foul trouble, with the Seminoles losing starting forward Okaro White and starting center Michael Ojo for most of the half after they each picked up two fouls.

UNC took full advantage of a smaller FSU lineup.

The Tar Heels grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the first half and were led by Kennedy Meeks (6-9, 290). Meeks got a handful of easy layup attempts and scored UNC’s final eight points of the half, including an easy bucket to cut FSU’s lead to 36-33 right before halftime. Meeks had 13 points at the break as the Tar Heels scored 22 points in the paint in the first half.

“I said at halftime, that was the luckiest I’ve ever been to be down at three,” UNC coach Roy Williams said.

UNC shot 67.9 percent from the field in the second half and Meeks finished with 23 points. Marcus Paige finished with 20 points, with 16 in the second half.

UNC went ahead 57-55 with 10:05 left in the game and never trailed again.

“All of a sudden, Marcus’ teammates started looking for him,” Williams said. “He got this look in his eye and started making them.”